A longtime downtown St. Cloud restaurant has been given new life with new homeowners, a brand new aesthetic and plenty of new dishes.
Co-owners and spouses Adrienne Donnel and Annie Meyer opened Arroy Thai and Filipino Restaurant within the former Sawatdee constructing earlier this month. Arroy means “tasty and scrumptious” in Thai, Meyer mentioned. Donnel handles coaching and oversees the kitchen, whereas Meyer handles the entrance of home.
Each Meyer and Donnel hung out working at Sawatdee earlier than they bought the constructing and reinvented the restaurant at at 800 St. Germain St. They determined to start out the restaurant after the pandemic made them begin to consider their futures.
“We realized that we wished to do greater than what we had been simply doing, so we had been within the means of determining what is the subsequent huge life step for us?” Donnel mentioned. “What are we going to do? We knew that we each wished to run one thing, however what was it going to be? After which it simply all type of fell in our lap, like, nicely, Sawatdee’s on the market.”
Donnel mentioned the couple wished to maintain the workers and tradition at Sawatdee, however elevate the expertise. The menu is fairly completely different, Meyer mentioned, and finds a near half-and-half steadiness between Thai and Filipino menu objects. Donnel is half Filipino, and wished to pay homage to her household recipes, she mentioned.
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“I really need to have the ability to showcase my tradition,” Donnel mentioned.
She mentioned she additionally feels that Thai and Filipino meals complement one another nicely. Each cuisines function savory dishes targeted on enhancing easy elements that steadiness the 5 flavors: salty, candy, spicy, bitter and creamy. Meyer mentioned Arroy will preserve the staple Thai dishes that clients beloved from Sawatdee; “it is simply our model of it,” she mentioned.
The restaurant will even proceed to have gluten-free and vegan choices.
Meyer and Donnel additionally wished Arroy’s Thai meals to really feel extra genuine. The costs are slightly larger at Arroy than Sawatdee, which Donnel attributed partially to the expense of sourcing extra genuine elements for his or her dishes. Nonetheless, they mentioned it’s in line with costs you’d discover at different downtown institutions.
The inside renovation took a couple of month to finish, and the within now options an open-concept eating room, trendy black, gold, pink and white colour scheme with murals painted by Donnel adorning the wall and a hand-carved teak wooden bar initially from Indonesia.
“We wish it to look slightly hip,” Donnel mentioned. “Somewhat New York in right here.”
They’re additionally proud to be queer ladies homeowners working a downtown restaurant. Donnel can also be an individual of colour.
“That is a extremely huge deal,” Donnel mentioned.
Arroy retained many of the Sawatdee workers, notably within the kitchen. It has been an thrilling factor for them to work collectively on new dishes, Donnel mentioned.
“They have been cooking the identical stuff for twenty years,” Meyer mentioned.
Because the enterprise waits on its liquor license, Arroy is experimenting with its mocktail menu. They may herald liquor after they obtain approval, however will even preserve some mocktails.
At the moment, Meyer and Donnel additionally plan to increase their night hours. For now, the enterprise is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays by means of Saturdays. Its first week was busy, Donnel mentioned.
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“We ended up having each single desk full,” she mentioned of their first weekend as Arroy.
Due to how well-liked the restaurant has been in its first days since reopening to start with of July, takeout will finish at 5 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
